Blood brothers
by fika1603
Summary: What started out as a work shadowing school project for Mokuba turns out to be a revelation of sorts for the Kaiba brothers. Just how far do they really care for each other? Completed!
1. Chapter 1

"If you can't even handle a simple thing like that, then maybe you should consider whether you deserved to be fired!"

The young CEO slammed his phone down as he leaned back into his leather office chair. Feeling cross, he let out a frustrated sigh. _Idiots,_ he thought furiously as he loaded his laptop. _It's no wonder I practically have to run the whole company by myself._

Just as he was about to start on his work on the laptop, there was a loud knock on his door. Ignoring it, Seto Kaiba bristled again in his mind: _And just my luck to have a dumb secretary who doesn't seem to understand the meaning of "do not disturb". Don't the people here understand simple orders?_

The knock became more insistent and louder. Eventually, Seto gave up and grunted a half-hearted permission to enter. His mahogany office door swung open to reveal a petite brunette at the doorway who had her head bowed slightly in what seemed to be an apology for interrupting him.

"Make it quick," he commanded, still not looking up from what he was typing onto his laptop screen.

"I'm sorry, Mr Kaiba," his secretary's voice seemed to quiver. He always had that effect on most of his employees, anyway. "I know you said not to disturb you, but your brother insisted on seeing you." Turning to the small long-haired boy beside her, she whispered, "Your brother seems to be in a bad mood, but I think you can still go in."

The younger Mr Kaiba bounded into his brother's office, a huge smile plastered on his childish features. He took a seat facing his brother, and as always, glanced around at Seto's office. Despite being here countless times, Mokuba had never failed to be amazed by the office interior. It was spacious, and the most noticeable furniture was the plain teak desk where his brother was at now. The minimalistic seats for the guests was limited in number – five in all, he counted – but made of fine leather. But the view from the office window was the best. Seeing how Seto's office was located on the highest floor of Kaiba Corporation HQ, one could see practically the whole of Domino City.

I want to be just like big brother! Mokuba kept telling himself that all the time.

After a while, Seto glanced away from his laptop and looked at his brother quizzically. Somehow at the same time he managed to sneak a peek at his watch. "What's up? Shouldn't you be out playing some video games?"

Mokuba turned to look at him and shook his head. "Nopes," he replied cheerfully. "Not today. I wanted to show you this."

Seto paused typing as he watched his younger brother trying to fish a piece of paper out from his backpack. He finally took the paper out himself after seeing Mokuba struggle to take it out from his packed backpack. At the same time, Seto could not resist sounding like the responsible older brother he was, "Mokuba, how about you pack your stuffs properly next time? And what's this?"

As his keen blue eyes skimmed the content of the letter, his brows furrowed. "Work shadowing?" he asked out incredulously. "What, has your school run out of projects for you all to work on? Kids your age should be copying and pasting stuffs from the Internet for projects. Create something useless, even. What's with work shadowing?"

Mokuba was eager to explain the whole thing to his older brother, despite the fact that Seto knew what it was all about. On the other hand, Seto seemed to have pushed away all the irritating business deals from his mind as he patiently listened in to his younger brother repeating what the teacher had told him about work shadowing. It was the simply the way that Seto was; his personality towards Mokuba was a stark contrast to that with the rest of the world.

After Mokuba finished, Seto sank back into his chair. He understood what his brother was hinting at already, and although he loved Mokuba dearly, he was reluctant to agree to him. A niggling feeling deep down, however, was urging him to agree. After all, he rarely saw Mokuba nowadays. By the time he reached home a little bit before midnight, Mokuba was already asleep. Even during breakfast, they could only spare each other 10 minutes before Seto was called up to settle some problem that his useless employees could not deal with, including a broken water pipe. He had given them hell after that and made them memorise the emergency numbers found on various plaques around the office. He no longer became the World's Greatest Boss among his workers.

Sliding the letter across his sleek desk back to his brother, he said kindly but firmly, "No, Mokuba. Not me. You'll be bored to death seeing how I do my job. Meetings, conventions, arguing, fighting for tenders, and the occasional actual fights as well. You're not ready to be exposed to all these."

"But – but... Big Brother!" Mokuba sounded desperate to get his brother to let him be his shadow. "I've told everyone that I'll be shadowing you. And they're all so excited about it. Please, big brother, please?"

"Why don't you shadow someone else?" Seto suggested, intent on changing Mokuba's mind. "If the worst comes to the worst, I'll even allow you to shadow _**him**_, although I have no idea what you can shadow about a game shop assistant keeper."

Mokuba knew who _**him**_ was; Yugi Mutou, his brother's arch-rival and occasional duel partner (when they had no choice). Seto respected Yugi, but so far he has not shown any signs of regarding Yugi as a friend. Three-quarter of the time, Seto viewed Yugi as the person to beat. The other one-quarter of the time, Seto rendered Yugi and his friends – nicely dubbed the Geek Squad – the most annoying beings on Earth.

The second heir of KaibaCorp shook his head fervently. "No! I want to shadow you!" he declared stubbornly.

Seto stared at his brother for a moment in surprise. Since when did his brother learn to be as headstrong as him? Gathering his composure almost instantly, he sighed, "Do whatever you want. When do you want to start?"

Mokuba's eyes followed his brother's movements as the latter stood up to adjust his navy blue suit. "Tomorrow?" he asked hopefully.

"Don't you have school tomorrow?"

"Not if I have started work shadowing. Ms Ulrich said all we have to do in that case is to call her to inform her. So we can start tomorrow?"

Seto waved a dismissive hand in Mokuba's direction before heading out of his office, but not before he warned, "Don't forget to get back home and do your homework, Mokuba. I'm stuck in meetings all the way till night. I can't be skipping them to look for you. I'll call in at 6pm. Make sure you're back home by then, or you can forget all about shadowing me tomorrow."

XO XO XO XO

By the third meeting, Seto had grown agitated with the people he met. The first group was a bunch of know-it-all businessmen from the States – who, much to their chagrin, knew close to zero what Seto knew about holographic technology. And they still dared to strike a deal with him by offering him _**their**_ latest holographic technology. All Seto needed to do was to take out his own prototype and stuff it in their face to signal to them that they were wasting his time.

The second meeting was no less pleasant than the first. He had hoped to secure a deal with one of the major amusement park ride creators in the world to further upgrade Kaibaland. Despite reminding them repeatedly that he set up the theme park for orphans and underprivileged kids, they were still insisting on going after the money.

"It's for the underprivileged kids," Seto had finally said heatedly. "_**Underprivileged**_. I'm sure you all know what that means. If you don't, I can ask my secretary to drop by your branch office and lend you a dictionary. Or I can simply give you the meaning right now."

"Which is?" one of the balding, smartly-dressed men had stupidly asked.

"Which is what you'll be if I burn down your whole bank accounts, your mansions and your assets. Can't you see? We can't raise the prices for the rides at Kaibaland, no matter how advanced they are."

"I understand Mr Kaiba," the bald men's bespectacled friend tried to assure the near-flaring KaibaCorp CEO. "But we must take into consideration the profits we need to gain from these rides. That's how we keep these rides going. They're one of a kind! Surely we must charge more!"

Needless to say, Seto had played along with their game. Then, just as they took out the various documents for him to sign, he calmly took those papers and ripped them right in front of their eyes. Nobody changes what Seto Kaiba had set out to do. Certainly not a group of pathetic old men insisting that they suck up the money from these poor kids.

Now it was nearly ten, and his current meeting was his most reluctant one: with Kenji Nakamura, the asshole who had been aiming and itching to take over KaibaCorp ever since Seto became CEO. Deep down, Seto wished he could tell Nakamura to go on and create a Barbie doll of himself – then he could really be a plastic person. But there was no point angering your archrival. The strategy was to cleverly protect KaibaCorp, and then take over Nakamura's business.

"So what do you think, Kaiba?" Nakamura regarded him with a wide smile that threatened to cleanly slice his face into two. "We should be business associates. I help you run yours, and you help me run mine, and in the end, both of us benefit from it."

_You mean, in the end, you'll kick me out of my own company,_ Seto added on dryly in his mind. _But I'll make sure before you do that, Nakamura, I'll kick you out of the country in tatters._

Instead, Seto replied with false amicableness, "I think I'll need to think that over for some time, Nakamura. I don't haste into business stuffs."

Nakamura let out a deep laugh. "Kaiba, Kaiba. Always the cautious one, eh? Trust me, Kaiba. I mean what I say."

"And I mean it when I said I don't rush into business deals with people," Seto said coldly, gathering his briefcase and getting up to leave. Any longer and he could vomit blood just listening to this scum. "Especially people like you."

Nakamura chuckled to himself as Seto strode out of his office. Shaking his head, he mused, "Such arrogance and ignorance. And that's going to be your downfall, Seto Kaiba. It's just a matter of time. Hahahaha!"


	2. Chapter 2

Seto glanced at his watch for what seemed to be the umpteenth time. Drumming his fingers on the edge of the leather seat in his limousine, he peered out of the vehicle's window irritably. What's taking Mokuba so long?

Finally his younger brother bolted out of the mansion door and into the waiting limousine. Seto stared at his brother incredulously. It was bad enough Mokuba had insisted on shadowing him despite his warning; now he had to try and dress like him too? Seto reached out to adjust the haphazard collar of his brother's identical KaibaCorp coat.

"Just because you're shadowing me, doesn't mean you literally have to be my shadow," Seto's commented. "Besides, I never lay any ground rules about what you should wear today. A normal t-shirt and jeans would have been fine by me."

Even if Mokuba could detect his brother's unhappiness with his choice of clothes, he chose to ignore it. Injecting optimism into his words instead, he spoke happily, "But Seto, I've always wanted to wear my KC coat. I thought today would be a good chance to wear it. I never thought we'd be dressed similarly today!"

His brother snorted. "You could have at least told me earlier what you're gonna wear. Next time it's Christmas, we can dress up as the snowmen and waddle around the company. Anyway, when we get to my office, listen to what I tell you to do. I'm serious, Mokuba. Do I have your word?"

Mokuba nodded excitedly. Finally, I could be like Big Brother! I can be just as cool as him! Now I know why he likes the KC studded coat – it's too cool!

Business was as usual in the morning – a cup of coffee by Seto's secretary, a stack of reports he had to look through and a phone message from Nakamura that he deleted upon hearing the name. He did not need such rubbish to exist anywhere in his office. Initially he had wanted to go along with his original plan; now he realized he should just take over Nakamura's company discreetly. Seto smirked at the thought of Nakamura's reaction when he finds out that he, Seto Kaiba, had unseated him as CEO and driven him to poverty. But before that dream could materialize, he needed to start forcing Nakamura's shareholders to sell their shares to him.

The whole time that Seto was inspecting the reports, Mokuba was sitting across him. He was bored. The whole morning, he hadn't been doing anything remotely business-ish. All he had been doing, however, was playing with his handheld video game and arranged the three files in Seto's drawer in alphabetical order.

After winning the KC Grand Prix on his video game for the eighth time, Mokuba finally plucked up the courage to interrupt Seto, "Big Brother, what am I supposed to do? I haven't been doing anything relating to what you've been doing. I'm bored."

Upon hearing him, Seto snickered slightly. "I told you, Mokuba, but you wouldn't listen." Then softening his tone, "Are you sure you don't mind being around me? I know this might be boring you. But if you want, I don't mind sending you over to that game shop."

"Why are you so insistent on me not work shadowing you? I just want to learn how you handle your job! Is that so wrong?" Mokuba could not believe what his brother was trying to imply to him.

Seto frowned. "I'm not preventing you from shadowing me, but I just thought you'd want something a bit more active, a bit more exciting. Being a CEO – "

Just then, his office door flung open and in walked the rest of KaibaCorp's board of directors. Seto heaved a lazy sigh. What now? At the same time, Mokuba rushed beside Seto; he knew what was about to happen, and it will not be anything pleasant. This was further strengthened when 5 all-too-familiar big-sized men dressed in pinstripe suits entered the office after the board of directors.

"Oh, it's you slimeballs," he greeted them coldly before turning to his board of directors (who just happened to be on the board because of the percentage of shares they have in KaibaCorp). "And what, you people are now working with snakes like them? Believe me, you can trust a compulsive liar much more than you can trust them."

"Surely Kaiba, a courteous hello would do to be polite?" Lector queried. For someone who was trapped in the virtual world for a shortened eternity, he sure had not changed, much to Seto's dismay.

"Well, hello trash. I'm not going to bother how you hogs manage to get out of the VR world because it's going to be a waste of my time listening to your story. So before I decide to bury you all in cyberspace again, you'd better leave."

"I don't think so, Kaiba. If there's anyone who has to leave, it'll have to be you," Kaiba sprang to his feet upon hearing that annoying lilting voice. Didn't he just spoke to the owner of the voice yesterday?

Clenching his fist tightly by his side, Seto growled, "Nobody tells me what to do in my own office at my own company, Nakamura! Let me guess. You're leading all these fools, aren't you?"

Nakamura walked in, flanked at the sides by the current and former board of directors. With every step, he mock applauded Seto. _Poor pathetic Seto_, Nakamura mused in his mind. _You've lost your company, and you never had any idea of it. So much for being smart._

Mokuba gripped his brother's coat tighter as he glanced up nervously at his brother. Seto's face remained stoic, but his much more rigid posture and the death stare from his icy blue eyes was a clear indication of how angry his brother was. In fact, he was not just angry; he was more than furious.

His gaze then turned to the whole panel of old men who were facing off with Seto. Narrowing his eyes, he dared to shout out, "You all heard my brother! Now get lost!"

This only seemed to evoke laughter from the older men. They seemed the least bit unfazed. Rather, they kept on advancing, triumphant smirks adorning their faces. Mokuba shrunk away, attempting to hide behind his brother. But he still kept his gaze on them, although it was looking more fearful.

"Kaiba, you never told me you had a wannabe," Nakamura was standing directly in front of Seto now. Casually, he placed his coat on Seto's desk. Then he turned to look at Mokuba. "Hello little Kaiba. You must be Seto's younger brother. I've heard so much from them – " he jerked his finger in the Big Five's direction. " – about you and your big brother. Very close, aren't you? Always together everywhere and everytime."

Seto dragged Mokuba behind him and stuck out his face until it was barely a few inches from Nakamura's sneering one. Staring hard back at Nakamura, he said in a low voice, "Don't talk to my brother, you over-aged sleazebag. If it's this company that you want, then you deal only with me."

Nakamura chuckled. "I don't have to _want_ your company, Kaiba. I already _own_ it. Maybe you could try asking your stockbroker all about it. Then you can do the maths." Seto was about to give some blunt retort, but he quickly cut it short. He did enjoy seeing his enemies squirm. "In fact, why don't I tell you straight to the face. You know, so you can absorb whatever's happening better."

Seto braced himself for the bombshell. As expected, the Nakamura had freed the Big Five, who in turn had paid an official visit to his board of directors, who weren't too happy with him anymore. After discussions, his board of directors had stupidly agreed to sell off their shares to Nakamura. The latter had promised to redistribute the shares after he gained control of KaibaCorp. Even upon hearing it in the midst of his fury, Kaiba scoffed at his shareholders idiocy. Haven't they realized that they would get a much smaller share after that? To add on to Kaiba's insult, his stockbroker had sold off 5 of Kaiba's shares without his employer's knowledge to Nakamura, granting the latter majority shareholder and ultimately position as CEO of KaibaCorp. And if that was not enough, his stockbroker had also sold off his other most important asset: Kaiba mansion.

"No," Seto murmured, his eyes wide in disbelief. He fell slumped his leather chair, his mind trying to register the shock that he received. "No. It can't be happening. Not again."

Nakamura cackled as two of his henchmen that were standing outside Seto's office hauled the latter and his brother out of the door. "So long Kaiba! And ooh, have you figured where you're gonna stay? Down in the dumps, perhaps."


	3. Chapter 3

"Seto, come on, we'll have to leave," Mokuba said gently, tugging at Seto's arm. His brother was still in a state of shock. For the half an hour, they have been sitting at the steps outside Kaiba Corporation HQ. Mokuba glanced around nervously. They had to leave before Nakamura sent his men to chase them away.

"We've lost everything again, Mokuba," Seto's voice trembled. "It's just like when we were kids. They took everything away."

Mokuba bit his lip. He had never seen his brother so broken before. Even when they were orphaned, Seto was the stronger one. He was the optimistic one, adamant to find a way to better their lives. He did just that, but at the expense of a happy childhood. Mokuba felt tears brimming in his eyes as he thought of that.

A shadow loomed over them, and Mokuba looked up. He expected to see one of Nakamura's henchmen standing before them, but what greeted his sight made him perk up. "Roland!" Mokuba cried out. "What are you doing here?"

Roland assisted Mokuba in helping Seto up and walked them to a black limousine. After making sure that the two Kaiba brothers were safely ensconced in the passenger seat of the limousine, he spoke up, "I heard about what happened, and regardless of it, you and Mr Kaiba are still my employers. When Mr Kaiba made me his right-hand man, I promised myself to protect you and him."

"But we can't pay you anymore, Roland," Mokuba said sadly. "We don't have anything left."

"My service doesn't come with a price, Mokuba. I'm doing what I'm doing because I want to. Regardless of what people say, Mr Kaiba has been and will always be the best employer I ever had." Suddenly Roland caught sight of something from his rearview mirror. Automatically, his assuring character morphed into a much more serious one. As he swerved the limousine through the traffic, he quickly said, "We're being followed. Tell me a place for me to drop you and Mr Kaiba off. Hurry."

Mokuba looked behind. True to Roland's words, there were two Mercedes rampaging after them. Facing back to the front, he dredged his mind hard. He had to think of a place. A hotel? No, that would be too easy a catch for Nakamura. Roland's house? As far as Mokuba was concerned, the CEO of KaibaCorp would have complete access to all of his employees details. Running off there was suicide. Mokuba turned to look at Seto. His brother probably heard whatever was going on, but he seemed indifferent about it.

Still, it didn't hurt to try. "Where should we go, Seto?"

"Anywhere you want, " the former CEO replied bluntly. "It's up to you. Anywhere's fine with me."

"Alright," Mokuba finally said after much consideration of where they should go. He leaned forward so that Roland could hear him. "We're off to Yugi's grandpa's game shop!"

"Right away, Mokuba!" Roland revved up the engine and activated the GPS system in the limousine to track down the location of the game shop. Meanwhile, Seto merely glared at his brother.

XO XO XO XO

"Alright barracuda! Get ready to be smashed!" Joey Wheeler crowed, doing a little dance as he drew a card from his deck. With exaggerated hand movements, he brandished his trusted Dark Blade before placing it in face-up attack position on the field. "Go Dark Blade! Show him what yer made of! Attack with – "

At the same time the small tinkle above the gameshop's door sounded, Joey paused in his duel and turned to see who it was. The sight that greeted him made him yelp. Not out of madness, but more out of anger and the whole feeling sick of always being looked down upon. Trying to inject some false gangsterism in the way he approached the johnny-come-late, he strode up to the two figures standing at the doorway.

"And if it ain't rich boy! What are you doing here?" Joey questioned, trying to beat Seto's holier-than-thou look with one of his own.

"Hey, Joey! Who's that?" Yugi called out as he loomed into view. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who the newcomers were. "Kaiba? Mokuba? What brings you guys here?" Noticing Mokuba's sad face as he neared them, he crouched down and asked the younger Kaiba, "Hey Mokuba. Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Mokuba shook his messy head as he whispered back, "One of Seto's rival took over our company, and he also bought over our house. We practically have nothing left. But Yugi, I have a favour to ask from you. Can we stay over here, at least for a night until we find another place?"

Suddenly, Seto, who was keeping silent all along, reacted. His head snapped back as he focused his eyes on his little brother. What was he thinking, asking Yugi for shelter like that?

"I don't think that'll be necessary, Mokuba," Seto interjected coldly. "We'll find somewhere else to go. We'll manage. We can fly out to the States or some place where we have a house. We don't have to beg for sympathy like this. Let's go."

Mokuba whirled around to see his big brother making his way out of the game store, his silver coat swishing behind him. He opened his mouth to object, but no sound came out. Resisting the urge to object, he resigned into following his brother's footsteps. That is, before Yugi called out to them.

"Hey, Kaiba! If you want to leave in this heavy rain, then that's up to you. But I don't think Mokuba should be exposed to such weather. What if he catches pneumonia?" At these words, Seto paused at the doorway to stare blankly back at Yugi. His nemesis was moving up to shield Mokuba from his sight. "If you want to go, then I don't have the right to stop you. But Mokuba stays right here safely out of the rain."

That seemed to get Seto's attention. He kept a steady gaze on Mokuba, who was nodding his head to his brother with a pleading look on his face. Seto could feel his fist clenching. Through gritted teeth, he finally gave in, "All right. We'll stay. And don't think you're doing me a favour, Yugi. I just don't want to see Mokuba get sick."

Yugi smiled as he started to lead his guests up. "Don't worry, Kaiba. Wouldn't even dream of it."

XO XO XO XO

Seto could barely sleep a wink last night, not that he needed much sleep anyway. Still, he would have appreciated a decent rest after what happened yesterday. When he gave up on trying to sleep, he reached for his silver coat and headed out quietly of the shophouse. Even with his black turtleneck shirt, it was not enough to stave off the early morning chill.

As he made his way down the street rather aimlessly, his hand unwittingly unstrapped the belts from his arm and kept them in looped around his left hand. He lifted his azure gaze to the sky. The sky was still glittering with stars, although it would be dawn soon. Seto continued on his way, mildly aware of his surroundings. He would be able to find his way back without a sweat.

All of a sudden, Seto found himself at the edge of the beach. The sight of the rolling waves crashing against the sand was suddenly comforting. He moved towards the waters, but stopped halfway. Instead, he cornered to the sand on the beach and, surprising even himself, he crouched down. He sifted the sand through his fingers. Those fine grains brought back one of those few memories he would never choose to forget. It brought back to his mind his promise to Mokuba.

"_It's a theme park!" young Seto announced proudly, gesturing to the sandcastle that he had built with his little brother._

"_A theme park? Just for the two of us?" little Mokuba was excited by that prospect, even back then._

I'm sorry Mokuba, his regretful thought was not expressed on his emotionless face. I'm so sorry, lil bro.

XO XO XO XO

"So Kaiba's not rich anymore?" Tea echoed her friends' words hours later. She glanced over at Mokuba who was occupied with some work on the table not far from them. "Was Mokuba okay with that?"

Joey gulped down a large slice of pizza dipped in BBQ sauce as he answered, "Yeapps. Mokuba's fine with it. But rich boy – oh wait, do we still call him rich boy? Never mind. Kaiba didn't seem too okay with it, though. And oh, you should see his reaction when Yugi offered his place to stay over for the night. Classic."

Tea continued to glance back at Mokuba. The boy was hard at work on something, and judging from the fervour he was showing with his pencil on the papers, Tea knew that he was drawing something. As she got up from her seat to head over to Mokuba, she could not help feeling sorry for him. Poor Mokuba. Half the time, Kaiba gets himself into a big mess, and Mokuba's the one that's always ending up the victim. I hope he's strong enough to face all this.

She slid into an empty seat beside the boy and picked up one of his drawings. She tilted her head slightly to get a clearer view of his drawings. Some of them were probably mistake drawings, but even then, there was no doubt what Mokuba was drawing: Blue Eyes White Dragon. Granted, his drawings look nothing like a dragon, but judging from the silver body and light blue eyes, it would be obvious to anyone that it was meant to be Seto's favourite card.

"Hey Tea," Mokuba greeted without looking up. His focus was still on the drawings. He licked his lips in concentration as he coloured in hard on his drawings. The colour pencils were threatening to break, but Mokuba managed to make do with that.

Tea patted his head lightly. She held up one of his drawings to eye level as she spoke, "Nice drawing, Mokuba. Is it Blue Eyes?"

This time round, Mokuba did pause as he grinned at the girl. He nodded his head excitedly. "Yups! I'm doing this to help Big Brother. It's the least I can do."

Tea was puzzled. "Help Kaiba? How?"

The grin faded from his face. Wordlessly, he reached out and plucked his drawing from Tea's hand. Faking a small smile, he replied ambiguously, "I know it'll help Seto! Now I want to clear all these stuffs first. Sorry Tea."

Hastily, Mokuba cleared his desk. Tea assisted in gathering all the colour pencils and extra unused papers. She attempted to get Mokuba to explain more about what he meant when he said that his drawing could help Kaiba. But Mokuba was adamant not to let anything slip.

I hope that this drawing can help you, Big Brother, he prayed silently to himself. Just like how it gave you strength to carry on when we were adopted by Gozaburo and you were forced to study hard with no rest. I hope you remember it, Seto. I really hope so.

Clutching the drawing close to his chest, Mokuba made his way cautiously to Yugi's bedroom, or rather Seto's temporary room. He raised a knuckle and knocked gently on the door. Usually at this time of the day, Seto would already be up, and it was he who would drag Mokuba out of bed. Mokuba found it odd that today was the reverse, but he attributed it to the recent events for the change in his brother.

Mokuba frowned. He knocked again, but louder this time. Still no reply. His small hand pushed down the door handle and pushed it open. He expected his Seto to perhaps be sleeping, or at the very least be sitting at Yugi's desk. "Seto?"

He wandered in and looked around. Yugi's room was not huge like Seto's back at Kaiba Mansion. There was no possibility of his brother hiding in some corner (not that his brother would do that anyway). He called out again, "Seto?"

But this time round, Mokuba was panicking. He ran out of the room and down the hallway, desperately calling out for his brother. No, Big Brother would never leave me here alone! He tried hard to convince himself as it became more evident that his brother was nowhere in sight. He wouldn't! He's somewhere. But he'll never leave me!

By the time he reached the game shop downstairs, he could feel the dam starting to break. Tea, Joey and Yugi glanced up from their animated discussion. Mokuba looked back at them helplessly through teary eyes. "Seto's gone!"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: i couldn't stand making Seto being in such a bad situation, so in this chap i sort of made things _slightly_ better. anyway, i might be on hiatus soon cos my O levels are coming. BUT i promise i will upload the next chapter ASAP! but for now, enjoy(:**

* * *

Mokuba, Yugi and his friends instantaneously started prowling the whole of Domino City to look for Seto. Joey was the most freaked out by the news, but the most reluctant to go on a hunt for Seto Kaiba. Still, he forced himself to put aside his negative feelings to join his friends.

"Next time I see rich boy, I'll hang him down from the lamp-post for making me run all over the city looking for him!" Joey fumed after yet another hour of futile search. By now, they were reaching the coastal area of the city. He turned to a random blond beach-goer passing by them. "Hey you. Did you happen to see some jerk this tall – " he raised his hand slightly above his head. "Brown hair, blue eyes, black clothes, gravity-defying silver coat and an ego to crush?"

The beach-goer hoisted his wet surfboard onto his shoulders as he echoed, "That tall, brown hair, blue eyes, black clothes, gravity-defying coat and an ego to crush?"

"Yeah."

The passerby pondered for a moment. "Hmm… that tall, brown hair, blue eyes, black clothes, gravity-defying silver coat? I think so."

Mokuba pushed past Joey. "Where?" he asked earnestly.

The stranger glanced down at him. "That tall, brown hair, blue eyes, black clothes and gravity-defying silver coat. Over there. At a corner of a beach. No idea how long the dude has been there playing with the sand. When I popped in at seven, he was already there." he eyed the rest of the gang carefully. "Is he like a danger to people or something? Cos like his search party is one huge one." He scanned Tea up and down. "One huge pretty one."

Joey jabbed his finger on the surfer's chest. "Hey, watch it surfer boy. Don't look at my friend that way." The latter showed no sign of being intimidated by Joey. Instead, he continued leering at Tea, who was inching back to stand behind Yugi. "Hey, I'm talking to you dude. Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

In the confusion, Mokuba slipped away from the group. Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, he ran towards the beach, his coat flapping behind him. His eyes quickly scanned the area around him, trying to catch sight of Seto somewhere. The surfer had said at a corner. Mokuba hurried towards the far end of the beach. When he saw a familiar figure seating on a familiar coat, he gripped his drawing tighter and dashed straight at the figure.

"Big Brother!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms around the figure's neck from the back. "Big Brother! I thought you went away! I thought you left!"

The figure turned around, startled. But his blue eyes softened when he saw Mokuba clinging to him from behind. Effortlessly, he steered the boy to his side and gave Mokuba's arms a gentle squeeze as he locked eyes with Mokuba knowingly. The latter looked up at Seto for a moment before lunging forward to hug his brother with all his might. Seto looked down at him tenderly and slowly wrapped his arms around Mokuba's small frame. It was a weird feeling, but he felt bad making Mokuba worry.

"Don't be silly, Mokuba," Seto attempted to hide his guilt and worry. "I promised I'll take care of you, didn't I?" He pulled back and eyed his brother's hands. "What's that?"

Mokuba look puzzled for a while, then his eyes followed Seto's gaze. He lifted up the piece of paper and placed it in Seto's hands. He beamed, "That's for you, Seto. I drew it for you, just like I once used to."

Seto looked down to study the paper. His eyes widened upon seeing Mokuba's drawing of Blue Eyes White Dragon. Even after all these years, his drawing was still similar. Suddenly, flashbacks ran through his mind.

That damned accelerated schooling program, he recalled. The images were still vivid in his mind. I was tired, and passing out. I wanted a rest so much. But I wasn't given any opportunity to. Then I found my Duel Monsters cards, and among the small stack was Mokuba's drawing for me. He knew I had always wanted that card. It was on that day I vowed to be someone worthy of owning the real Blue Eyes White Dragon.

Mokuba was peering curiously up at him. Seto caught his gaze and elicited a small smile, shaking his head slightly. "I had wanted so much to own a Blue Eyes back then. Now I have all three of them, and a Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon."

His little brother suddenly perked up. His purple eyes had gone all shiny, indicating that Mokuba had an idea, or just another word of encouragement. Whichever way it was, Seto welcomed both.

"That's right, Seto! I was really hoping that this drawing will bring back that persevering spirit in you again!" Mokuba sounded so pumped up, Seto could not help wondering if those lines were rehearsed countlessly. "I still remember what you told me, Seto. If at first you don't succeed, just go and try again!"

All of a sudden, their reunion was shattered by an all-too-familiar voice. "Kaiba! Next time you wanna pull a Houdini, you might want to tell Mokuba first. He was worried sick about you!"

Scowling, Seto brushed off the sand as he stood up and shrugged on his coat. Isn't there some place in this country where he could go to without bumping into this sniveling underdog? Yugi, he could still deal with it. Wheeler was exceptionally annoying. Without so much of a glance to them, he turned around and started to walk away. He could sense Mokuba hesitating behind him, but eventually catching up with his big brother. Seto could hear Wheeler throwing fading insults at him, but he chose to ignore it. That's what you get from a loser, he snickered.

Mokuba's words had triggered something in his mind. Something that even he had completely forgotten all about. Of course, back then it was the least important thing on his mind. But now, it somehow pays to always be one step ahead of others.

"Hey bro," Mokuba asked beside him. "Maybe you should say thanks to them. After all, they did help us…"

Seto's face remained expressionless as he leaned against Joey's car. "How about you tell them to hurry up and get back to this car? Then as a way to compensate them for all their trouble, I'll drive."

Mokuba's face lit up. Almost immediately he ran back and shouted to his friends what Seto had said. Meanwhile, Seto's mind had started whirring again. He had to take over his own company, before those morons destroyed what he had sincerely built with his hard work and determination. All he needed right now was a temporary personal office/study for him to work in.

He whipped out his mobile phone and dialed a number. "Roland? I hope you don't have anything to do right now, because I have a job for you."

XO XO XO XO

Yugi looked around as he sat down at the coffee table across Mokuba. The smaller boy was excitedly looking through a new set of board game that had just arrived at the shop. Mokuba made a mental note to get Seto to buy it for him.

"Hey, Mokuba, I haven't seen your brother around," Yugi spoke slowly, inspecting the board game on the table. It was something of a cross between Risk and Capsule Monsters – Yugi had yet to actually read the rules of the game, but Mokuba was all set to just plunge straight into the game. "He didn't even come down for lunch with you."

Mokuba kept his gaze fixed on the board as he answered quietly, "I know. He hasn't eaten anything since yesterday after we came back from the beach. He's been in your study all this while."

Yugi frowned. Even for Kaiba, it was unlike him to totally shut his little brother out from his world. Yugi remembered what Mokuba always said, he and Seto were a team. The older Kaiba brother never outwardly said it, but the countless occasions where he placed more than enough faith and trust in Mokuba proved it. Seeing Mokuba looking so sad right now, Yugi felt bad for him.

Poor guy, he thought. Wonder what's Kaiba up to, to neglect Mokuba like this.

"Uhh… do you know how to play this, Mokuba?" Yugi asked uncertainly. Better change the subject for now.

Mokuba shook his head. Yugi felt his shoulders droop. It was not working; Mokuba's mind was already focused on Kaiba. He hoped that the idea he blurted out was going to work, "Well, if your brother's not coming out the study to eat, why don't you bring something up for him?"

XO XO XO XO

Seto rested his chin on his steepled fingers as he stared hard at the laptop screen. The figures were climbing; that was a good sign. But it was not moving fast enough for him. Furrowing his brows deeper, he clicked on another window and studied the figures on it as well. It was a two-pronged attack of revenge from him.

A knock came on the door. Without turning away from the screen, he growled, "What now?"

The door creaked open – and Seto instantly found himself being irritated by it. Every single panel, door and stairs in this dump creaks. He heard the shuffling of feet advancing towards him, but still he kept his focus where it should be. That is, until he saw a tray of buttered toast and a cup of coffee being slid over beside him.

He whipped his head to the side to see a timid-looking Mokuba standing beside him. "What's this, Mokuba?"

His eyes trailed his little brother as the latter moved to sit down in a chair next to him. Even when he replied, he sounded unsure, "You haven't eaten anything since yesterday, Big Brother. I know you're working hard on something, but even you need a break. You still need to eat and sleep."

"I don't have time to do that, Mokuba," once again, Seto had shifted his focus onto the laptop screen. "If I want to get back KaibaCorp and kick Nakamura out, I have to pay close attention to my plan."

"But you still need a break, Seto!" Mokuba sprang from his chair, his voice rising up a notch. Seto simply looked at him, bewildered. "I don't mind if you're not telling me what you're planning because maybe you think I won't understand, but you still need to take care of yourself!" Mokuba dropped his gaze. "You haven't been yourself lately, big brother. I worry about you."

Seto swallowed hard, still in shock by Mokuba's outburst. He thought of saying something to possibly lighten up the atmosphere, but decided against it. _Mokuba's right. I haven't exactly been…well, my normal self. At least towards him_.

Shakingly, he reached out to hold his brother by the arms and gave them a reassuring squeeze. Anything to make Mokuba feel better. "Don't worry, Mokuba." He quickly glanced at the food tray still lying untouched on the desk. "Alright, I'll eat something. And I'll fill you in about my plan. After all, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have been able to come up with it."

Mokuba seemed to cheer up slightly. He looked back straight at Seto, trying very hard to maintain the petulant demeanour. "Promise me you'll eat, big bro."

As if to prove his word, Seto reached out and bit into the toast. Surprisingly, it tasted good. "See? I'm eating. Now sit down. I'll tell you about what I've planned.

"Your Blue Eyes drawing jolted something in my mind that I have always deemed to be excess unimportant information. I never expected that it will serve us well now. Remember after I first reopened shares trading a month after I took over KaibaCorp? There was an excess of ten million US dollars from the sales and the other investments I had in other companies. I needed some place to store it, but I needed to make the storage ultra-safe. You suggested the answer to me, Mokuba, remember?"

Mokuba's eyes lit up as he recalled the moment. Seto was strategizing a game plan for one of his duels, and one of the magic cards in his collection that he discarded was Magical Hats. Mokuba thought that it was a good card – the opponent would have to guess the position of the target monster correctly in one of the three hats. The other two were just ploys. At that time, Seto adopted the idea not for his game, but for his money.

"Your other bank account that's under the name of Nagai Juichi!" Mokuba exclaimed triumphantly, practically yelling in Seto's face. However, his older brother nodded calmly as he popped the last bit of the toast into his mouth. "You're making use of that to win back KaibaCorp! But you had Roland to come to the bank to open up the account and - oh! I think I get it now! You sent Roland over to get the money yesterday, didn't you?"

Seto smirked as his little brother looked on in awe. _Just you watch out, Nakamura. I'll pry you away not only from my company, but from yours as well. Nobody messes with Seto Kaiba. If you do, be prepared to pay!_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: yayy! one week of O levels is over! now only left a few more papers, and that's why i managed to steal time to complete and upload the latest chapter in this fic! thanks for all the reviews and support guys! keep on reading, and i hope you guys enjoy it :)**

* * *

Seto awoke to persistent knocks on his door. His eyelids fluttered open slowly, but any sense of his grogginess evaded him the moment the knocks became more audible to his ears. Tossing the covers aside but careful not to awake his brother, he shuffled up and threw open the door, clearly annoyed. "What do you want?"

Tea stood rooted at the door, unblinking. Uncertainly, she raised her finger and pointed into the room, her eyes never wavering from Seto the whole time. She said evenly, "I was…just looking for Mokuba. Yugi and Joey are heading over to the fast food outlet nearby for breakfast, so I thought of asking Mokuba – and you, now that you're up – along."

The look that Seto gave her indicated that her invitation was unwelcome to him. At the same time, inside the room, Mokuba sat up from the bed, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He peered through the cracks between Seto's tall frame and the door. Tea! He practically leaped out of bed as he dashed to the door.

"Morning Tea!" he beamed. Seto glared at him disapprovingly.

"Morning Mokuba!" Tea replied, trying to sound equally cheerful. She was well aware of Seto's piercing stare at her. "We were just going for breakfast. Do you want to come along?" When she saw Mokuba lift his eyes off her to look at his big brother questioningly, she hastily added, "As in, me, Yugi, Joey and Tristan. I don't think your big brother likes breakfast."

Seto snorted. Tea threw dagger looks at him as he turned his back to the door and haughtily walked back to bed. People always say that a person's true character is revealed first thing in the morning. After the pharaoh's sending off, Seto had appeared to be a slightly better person. In fact, she even had a theory that all his arrogance was just put up as his way of telling people to get out of his path. How was she to know that his character was truly like that.

Mokuba quickly glanced back at Seto who was making the bed. His brother's slender fingers quickly folded up the covers and laid it across the bed. The whole time, Seto never looked back even once at the door. Mokuba bit his lip. He hoped Seto would not be mad at him, but he was hungry. Besides, he couldn't wait to meet up with Yugi and the rest. They had been his friends and hung out with him all these days. He decided to take the risk.

"Alright, Tea," he announced happily. "I'm joining you guys!"

"Great!" Tea exclaimed. Then she bent down and spoke in a low whisper, "Your brother's pretty insensitive to people, isn't he? I mean, he could at least have pulled on a shirt or something before answering the door."

Mokuba peered over his shoulder to see what she meant. He didn't see what was the big deal about Seto being shirtless but in his jeans. Maybe Seto was right; girls are weird.

XO XO XO XO

When Mokuba got back from breakfast, Seto was already decked in his black turtleneck sweater and black skinny jeans. His creaseless silver coat lay on the bed, along with a few belts that he had not yet put on. On Yugi's desk was a large silver briefcase that Mokuba had gotten accustomed to seeing his big brother lug everywhere. He picked up one of the belts and handed it to Seto, who quickly strapped it onto his arm. Mokuba scratched his head confusedly. Although he was the only one who understood his brother, at the same time, he found Seto hard to comprehend. Sometimes he wondered if Seto truly had lost it. But each time it turned out Seto had a brilliant idea that just turned out well.

"How was breakfast?" Seto asked, still busy adjusting his outfit.

Mokuba sounded pleased as he replied, "Cool! The outlet had pancakes of almost all flavors and colours. I got myself a chocolate chip one and a green one. The green one tasted weird cos it was green tea. But the chocolate chip one was nice! You should go try it one day, Seto!"

Seto smiled quickly. It could not even be considered a smile. The upper corners of his lips were tugged up and dropped almost instantly. Mokuba exhaled as loud as possible. Seto had a plan already playing in his head, he was sure of it.

Mokuba tailed his brother who had just exited the bedroom. His brother's jaw was set in a firm line, an indication that whatever he was up to, it was something serious. Mokuba tried to keep his stride in line with Seto's brisk ones. Quietly, he asked without looking up at his brother, "Are you going somewhere, Big Brother?"

The latter did not reply. Instead, he clicked open his briefcase and took out a stack of papers which was neatly stapled together. As he handed it to Mokuba, his eyes roamed his brother's face warily, "Get this to Roland. He'll bring you to our new lawyer. Make sure our lawyer rushes this to the court and have it approved ASAP." Seto paused. He rested his hand on his brother's head and said gently, "I'm counting on you, Moki."

Mokuba's eyes widened as he stared up at Seto in disbelief. Moki? He called me Moki? He could feel a wide smile slowly spreading over his features. Without thinking, he lunged forward to hug Seto. Seto calmly let Mokuba cling on to his waist before letting his free hand pat his brother's hair.

"You called me Moki!" Mokuba exclaimed. Seto wasn't sure if he was crying as he said it. "I thought I'd never hear you call me that ever again! You stopped calling me that on the day that – "

Seto cut him off. "Alright, Mokuba. I have to go. Remember what I told you. Get those papers to our lawyer."

Mokuba scrunched his face stubbornly. "Why can't I go with you? After all, we're a team!"

"I can't risk your safety, Mokuba. I'll have to do this alone."

"But – "

"Go. To. Roland."

XO XO XO XO

Nakamura twisted his cigar nervously between his fingers. His right-hand man stood before him, ramrod straight. An epitome of discipline and order, no doubt. On a normal day, Nakamura would have been pleased to see such show of loyalty. Right now, it only served to make him anxious than normal.

"How much does he have now?" Nakamura croaked. He quickly downed a small glass of whiskey to clear his throat. Not that it helped.

"Forty-ei –" his right-hand man suddenly paused. He listened to what was being said over his earpiece for a while. He blanched as he dared to answer his boss. "Just now it was forty-eight percent, sir. Now he's managed to garner fifty-five percent, sir. He sweeps clean this company."

Suddenly the French doors of his office flung open and one of his men in charge of security rushed madly in. "Mr Nakamura! Mr Nakamura! I tried to stop him – "

He was flung to the side before he even had a chance to complete his sentence. Standing in his place, glaring at Nakamura as if it was the last thing he would ever do, was …

"S- S- Seto Kaiba!" the cigar dropped to the floor the moment he spluttered the name out.

The former CEO of KaibaCorp gave him a pointed smile. Clearly, his arrogance and confidence was back, and sky-rocketing like never before. Nakamura actually found himself slithering away from his leather seat. Seto, meanwhile, thought that Nakamura's action reflected what he thought of him. Nothing more than a worthless snake who had cleverly tried to suffocate him so that he could wrap his scaly little self around his company.

"Nice office," Seto commented dryly. "What am I talking about? Of course it is. It's MY office!"

Seto snorted as Nakamura rose from his seat. It was a wonder somebody as spineless as him had the temerity to stand up face to face with him. Ignoring the dagger looks that Nakamura was sending his way, Seto coolly set his silver briefcase with a loud thud on the desk. He made it a point to have the edge of his briefcase prod Nakamura's nose.

Nakamura glowered at the tall young man as he spat, "What do you think you're doing here, fool? It's my company now! Are you pretending not to remember, or did you really hit your head on something when my men threw you out?"

In reply, Seto let out a loud hollow laugh. Tapping his temple with an index finger, he smirked, "Clearly Nakamura, you're not using your head. At last count, you own less than forty-five percent of this company after all your other shareholders skived off or simply surrendered their shares. Guess who owns the remainder, if you could count how much that is?"

Without waiting for a retort, Seto flung open his briefcase and threw a thin black file onto the table. A black ballpoint pen (its cheap cost was nothing compared to how many important papers it had allowed Seto to imprint with his signature with) was whipped out from somewhere in his coat pocket and joined the file. By then, Seto had already clutched the edge of the table and stared down hard at Nakamura.

"Sign," he ordered, cold and menacing.

"Do you take me for an idiot?" Nakamura obviously refused to comply. "I know who owns KaibaCorp now, and it's not you!"

Seto rolled his eyes. "Oh really?" He reached further into his coat inner pocket and plonked a Swiss Bank cheque book in front of the snake. The wind caused it to flip open to a page containing an empty cheque waiting to be filled up. Imprinted clearly at the top was: Mr Nagai Juichi.

Finally Nakamura exhibited the reaction that Seto was looking forward to see all this while. He looked up at the towering man disbelievingly, shaking his head at intervals. In a duel, perhaps Seto liked the idea of having his rival trembling with fear when he unleashed some dastardly powerful card that could beat his rival's cards blindfolded. Right now, unfortunately, he was not looking for self-entertainment.

"Yeah, that's right. Do you seriously think I only have 1 bank account under 1 name? You must be a complete moron to think that way. Now hurry up and sign, so I can not only take back my company, I can take over yours."

"What?!" Nakamura was shocked. He scrambled to his computer and loaded the database from his main company. Whatever Seto said was true; he already owns slightly more than half of the shares there. "You… you…"

"Spare me the insults. Now why don't you do yourself a favor and sign this paper?" Surprisingly, Nakamura did just that. Once he was done, Seto jabbed his thumb towards the office door. "Get out of my life. I never want to see you anywhere ever again. Is that clear?"

Nakamura's henchmen were already backing away towards the door, but Nakamura moved out of Seto's leather seat so slowly, it irked the actual owner of Kaiba Corporation. Grabbing the stocky Nakamura by the front of his suit, Seto dragged him towards the door and hurled him out of the office.

"I think you've tainted my office enough with all your foulness. I'm giving you 3 minutes for you and all those loyal to you to get lost from my building!" He swiveled his head towards his frightened secretary who was silently standing at the side watching the drama unfold. "Misa, go make an announcement to the whole office! I'm back! And anyone who's not happy with that fact have the pleasure to leave!"

Nodding blindly, Misa took off without so much of a glance at how her boss seemed tempted to beat the life out of Nakamura.

XO XO XO XO

In actuality, Seto did give Nakamura a punch for good measure. That was the reason why Nakamura now saw in his Mercedes in front of the KC Building with an ice pack over his left eye. Usually Seto would not condone violence; most of the time, he settled disputes and fights like a gentleman. Either by dueling, or by firing the person. This time, though, he made Nakamura an exceptional case.

"That bastard!" Nakamura had cursed and swore non-stop from the moment he was punched. "I'll get him for that! Who does he think he is, beating me up like that?"

His right-hand man dutifully interjected, "He's Seto Kaiba, and currently now he owns everything that you owned. Including your mansion, which I heard he plans to have it bulldozed."

"You don't have to tell me that, you blithering idiot! What do I pay you for? To protect me! But no, you just stood there and let get punched!"

Nakamura seethed as he pressed the ice pack harder over his eye. He had to do something. He couldn't be beaten by some kid who stashed his wealth all over world. _Think, Kenji think_. _What can you do? That kid just made you sign a bunch of papers stating that you handed over everything to him. _

He froze. _He hasn't had those papers handed over to the court yet to be rendered legitimate. I must stop him now._

He turned to his right-hand man who was about to light a cigarette. "Make up for your stupidity just now. Go up there and use your gun. Do I have to tell you on who?"


	6. Chapter 6

Seto frowned as he sniffed the air in his office. His lips curled in disgust. Cigars, he snorted as he reached down for an air freshener that had caught dust deep in his desk drawer. The stench was worse than cigarettes. Sure, he had his fair share of the latter, but it did not last long. Eventually, he too gave that up. Now he was practically clean of all those stuffs – non-smoker and tee-totaler, even. He felt almost proud of himself. (Although deep-down he knew it was more due to him wanting to be a good parent to Mokuba)

The French doors swung open. As usual, without looking up, Seto barked, "What now?"

"Heads up, Mr Kaiba," a sneering voice did have the effect on Seto to literally look up. Nakamura's henchman was at the door, pointing a gun at him.

Seto sighed. This was getting irritating. Every other moron who did not succeed in taking over his company planned to kill him. When would they ever learn that they simply could not take it away from him?

"I suppose if I tell you that I learned practically every martial arts move, you still won't throw that gun away," he said lazily. "So go ahead, shoot me."

The henchman fired. Seto ducked.

**XO XO XO XO**

He groaned as he tried to sit up. He expected some searing pain on his head, but there was none. Still, he felt stunned. Groggily, he leaned against the wall and drew himself up. He cast a glance around. The clean white walls and blinding lighting. He smelt chlorine too, as if the place was frequently sterilized and cleaned.

_What the hell am I doing suddenly walking about in a hospital?_ He scowled as he strode through the corridors angrily. Suddenly he paused as he saw a familiar family rooted to the seats outside a room.

_That's… that's impossible!_ His blue eyes widened in disbelief as he continued to observe the family before him. _If I'm here, then… how can I be there?_

But there he was across his current self. Young Seto, looking on – he knew, anxiously - at his father, and occasionally throwing a look at the room they were waiting outside of. Passer-bys would probably regard him as a calm boy, but Seto knew himself better.

If Dad and I are waiting there, that must mean…

Seto rushed to the room, which was a labour ward just as expected. He caught sight of the brunette in the room, screaming and wincing in pain. Despite himself, Seto was shocked at the sight of labour. Suddenly he understood how much pain his mother must have gone through to bring him and his brother to this world.

His mother's screaming gave way to a baby's wailing, and Seto immediately knew who it was. Without thinking twice, he pushed open the door, only to find himself passing right through it. There in the nurse's arms, still bloody and crying, was a little baby boy. Seto watched on in awe as the nurse bathed the newborn, and then wrap him in a cotton blue towel. His eyes never strayed from the baby, and Seto suddenly found himself choking back a sob as the baby was placed next to his mother.

At that point in time, Seto turned his back to the mother and son and headed out of the labour ward. What happened inside was a scene he had not and never wanted to witness. Instead, he leaned beside his younger self and crossed his arms. Any moment now the doctor would walk out and hand the baby to his father, but not without delivering the bad news along with it.

That was precisely what happened. Both the younger and older Seto watched as their father broke down and sobbed as he held the baby close to him. Repeatedly he murmured his wife's name. The younger Seto did not understand why at that time; the older version understood too well.

But the older Seto felt the same overwhelming feeling as his younger self as the baby was placed in the latter's arms. It was the strongest feeling he had ever felt; pure, brotherly love. Seto reached out to stroke his brother's face, but just like with everything, his fingers passed right through.

His thought was echoed by his younger self's words, "Mokuba. My dear brother Mokuba."

His father smiled on, trying to hide his grief as he patted young Seto's head. "Alright, kiddo. Let's call him Mokuba. Mokie."

Young Seto laughed. "Mokie! I like that! And Dad, he looks like you!"

Meanwhile, the older Seto had turned his back on them and was walking away.

**XO XO XO XO**

"I don't care! I own this hospital too! You have to let me do it!"

The doctor steadied the teary-eyed Mokuba and shook his head. "I'm sorry Mr Kaiba. But you can't."

"Why not?" Mokuba argued back adamantly. "He's my brother! It has to be the same!"

"The question isn't about your blood type, Mr Kaiba. But you're too young. Don't worry, we'll get the blood supply from the blood bank asap. Trust us, Mr Kaiba." The doctor glanced over at the rest of the gang standing behind the twelve-year-old. "Could you all please help me to calm him down? I promise I'll do my best to save Mr Kaiba."

Joey gladly bent down and helped to walk Mokuba to the waiting chairs. Tea and Yugi placed a comforting hand on each of his shoulders. The younger Kaiba was sniffling uncontrollably even as he took a seat.

"All this while my brother has been protecting me and saving me," he launched into an emotional outburst. "And now the only chance that I could repay him and I can't do it because I'm underaged!"

Joey knelt down beside him and shook his shoulder gently. "Hey, don't cry now, Moku-Man. You think your bro would like it if he sees you crying? No way, man. He'll be sad too, even though he's Kaiba." Mokuba opened his mouth to argue, but Joey cut him off. "I'm a big brother too. I know. Just cause I don't like Kaiba doesn't mean I don't understand why he does stuffs he does for your sake.

"Listen up, Moku-Man, cos I know Kaiba will never tell this to you. Y'see, in this world, there are two… well, 3 kinds of big bros. The first kind is the kind that is not ashamed to admit to the whole world that he loves his younger sibling. And that's me, cos I don't mind telling everyone that I love Serenity! Then there's the second type. He's usually too ego to say it in front of other people, but will tell you that he loves you when you're all alone. Usually, this type of big bro teases you a lot. Then there's the third kind. They never seem to say I love you, but they express it in the way they do things. And that's where Kaiba falls under."

Mokuba seemed to calm down slightly upon hearing Joey's monologue. Even Tea had to admit, that for once, her friend was babbling something with substance. Perhaps it was because Joey had experience and enough knowledge in that area to sound so impressive.

Apparently, Joey wasn't done yet. In fact, he appeared to be having fun suddenly sounding like the wise guy. "I know one thing Kaiba has told you is never to give up, right? Besides, like you said, you _own_ this hospital. Who's to say you can't donate your blood to your bro? Go for it, Moku-Man!"

Tea had the instinct to rap Joey on the head. "We're supposed to be discouraging him, lame-brain. Not encouraging him."

**XO XO XO XO**

The next door was not as permeable as the rest of the doors, so Seto had to resort to kicking it open. The bright white light blinded him temporarily, but soon his photoreceptors were working again. Apparently he had stepped out of the hospital zone and entered… he glanced up at the sandy brick buildings and the people milling about.

_Ancient Egypt - again_, he groaned. _What's with this dream? Time-transporting? I've had enough, thank you. And now I'd like to wake up._

He skulked through the busy marketplace, oblivious to the buzz of the merchants and women bargaining the daily groceries. Once in a while, he glanced down at some kids running through the area, but otherwise, he continued on his way despite having no idea where he was going. After all, it was a dream, wasn't it? He was not supposed to know where he was heading.

There was a commotion at the end of the marketplace, but it was more of people moving out of the way rather than congregating. Ignoring all that, Seto walked on.

_Whatever. It's not like any of them Is going to slam into me._ When he saw the sight in front of him, he rolled his eyes. _Or some guy who looks like me crashing into me._

Priest Seto was leading a small group of mean through the marketplace, possibly looking for a loose criminal, judging from the air of authority and – to Seto's mild displeasure, simply because it mirrored his own – arrogance as he issued orders to his men.

"Right away, my pharaoh!" Seto overheard one of the men say.

He stared hard at his look-a-like (not ancestor, whatever Yugi or his dweeb team call the person as). _Pharaoh? Since when? Wasn't the other Yugi the Pharaoh? Atem or whatever his name was?_

Suddenly a shrill scream came from the other end of the marketplace. Pharaoh Seto immediately sprang into action, lurching forward with his Millennium Rod to the source of the cry. His men followed suit. Seto, out of curiosity, hurried after the royal party. The sound of the cry was familiar, too familiar.

"Let the little one go, you despicable fiend!" Pharaoh Seto snarled, holding out the Millennium Rod in front of him, ready to punish the offender anytime. "Surrender to my men, or I'll have to take my own actions again you!"

Seto looked on, open-mouthed, at the sight of the little boy that was being held hostage. The jet-black hair and those wide eyes.

"Mokuba," he murmured.

Without thinking, he launched himself forward, and grunted as he jump right through the criminal and fall smack onto the ground. Stupid dream. What sort of dream was this? Shouldn't he be the one in control of the dream?

Pharaoh Seto had gone one step ahead – he had successfully distracted the swarthy outlaw enough to allow two of his men to tackle the man to the ground. As he pulled the little boy to safety behind him, Seto saw more of himself and Mokuba in the Pharaoh and the boy. The same level of protectiveness and anger.

"I will not tolerate any harm being done upon my people!" Pharaoh Seto roared, this time putting the Millennium Rod close to the man's forehead. Seto snorted as he saw the man's eyes widened in sudden guilt. "Men, take him away! I will personally deal with this mongrel later!"

As the man was towed away, howling pointless apologies and begging for mercy, Pharaoh Seto purposefully ignored his cries. Instead, his attention was on the little boy he just saved. He knelt down until he was the same level as the boy (this shocked the rest of the civilians around the marketplace, because no Pharaoh had ever lowered himself to a shorter height than he was publicly). Carefully, he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Are you alright, little one?" Pharaoh Seto asked quietly.

The boy nodded fervently. "Y-Y-Yes, my king."

Pharaoh Seto smiled kindly at the boy (Seto found it weird to see himself smiling like that). He shifted his hand to the boy's head and patted it once. Then, he rose back to full height. He diverted his attention to the rest of his men.

"Bring this boy back to the palace. Ensure that he has the best of everything. Find his parents. I will make him my son."

Seto had back the poker face as he watched 'Mokuba' ecstatically following the Pharaoh's men. Great, my so-called ancestor made Mokie's so-called ancestor his son. Even Seto wasn't sure whether he was pleased that happened, or he was bitter about what happened to his family.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: thanks for all those who reviewed, faved, placed this fic on alerts! i appreciate every single one of you readers out there, and i'm glad y'all liked the story so far. i wasn't too sure how to go about for this chapter, but i had the itch to write. so ta-da! here it is, chapter 7 (which might be the second last chapter)! enjoy yea!**

**Love, Fika1603**

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Seto stumbled his way through the dark alleyway. He had wished for the road to be one smooth one, but apparently this is one hell of a dream because it – wouldn't – listen – to – him. His new location only served to deepen the furrow in his forehead. He glanced behind him. Ancient Egypt, all hot and sandy. But right now, he was standing in a great hall.

_Great, just great. Seriously, I want to wake up. Now._

Everything in the hall was made of metal and glass, including the stairway. Seto snorted. Which idiot would build a glass staircase, anyway. Haven't they realized the danger of slipping and falling right off the steps after the maid had just mopped it squeaky clean? Even the floor was made of glass, although much more thicker. At least the designer had the brains to make it black-and-white like a chessboard. That gave the room much more class than it deserved.

The house – mansion, bungalow, semi-detached, whatever luxury house it was – appeared empty. No faint noises of housekeepers or maids scurrying about the place wiping clean the ceiling-to-floor windows or dusting the porcelain statues and vases lying in prominent places. Usually Seto enjoyed these rare moments of quietness. But the silence was making him agitated.

Then he heard the faintest tinkling of music. He recognized the piece: Leeloo's Tune. In fact, he would recognize it anywhere. The moment he heard the song, he had immediately attributed it to Mokuba. In one of those rare moments where he was in his study not doing anything work-related, Mokuba had managed to make him sit down together with him and listen to a huge stack of CDs.

"_Seriously, Mokuba," Seto groaned, picking up one CD and immediately setting it down again. "I'm not much of a pop music person. In fact, I'm not a music person. Who's this? Jonas Brothers?"_

_"But they're cool, big bro!" Mokuba was getting nowhere in convincing the elder Kaiba about the latest fad in music. Inwardly, he sighed. "Alright. How about Hannah Montana?" Seto's glare gave him his answer. He whined, "But it's not a chick song! Fineee. Maksim?"_

_Seto stared blankly at him. "Who?"_

_Mokuba jumped at the chance to pop the CD into the player and played a track at a moderate volume. He purposely chose one that sounded soothing but relatively upbeat. Then he scurried over to his brother's side and explained patiently, "He's a classical crossover artiste. I like his songs. They're unique! Like this track."_

_His elder brother, who had been perusing the back of the CD cover, reached out and clicked the forward button until it came to a slower, but sweeter track. He half-smiled at Mokuba, "I think I'll like this one better."_

Seto shook his head. That flashback was too vivid.

He trudged on, knowing for a fact that he was getting closer to the source of the music. He eventually did. For a moment, he wondered how big the hall was – it seemed to stretch across the whole compound. Then the next moment, he saw who was playing the familiar tune on the piano.

_Am I that egocentric to see myself wherever I go?_ He wondered as he neared his other self.

The latter was dressed sharply in an all-black ensemble, right from the loose silk shirt to the Italian patent loafers on his feet. Surely, he must have just returned from some formal function he was forced to attend.

_Poor me._ Seto thought dryly as he moved up beside the elegant black Steinway piano. _And I could play the piano? How interesting._

But all snide comments evaporated from his mind the moment he saw why his other self was hunched over the piano. His locket containing Mokuba's photo lay on his lap, and unbelievably, he was crying. Seto suddenly felt uneasy. He never cried. Curious, he rested himself against the piano and continued to stare at his other self. Maybe the latter would let slip something.

After what seemed like forever, and absolutely no hint from the Seto In Black as to why he was being out of character, Seto huffed as he left the hall to do his own investigation. As he walked up the glass stairway (there's a plus being in a dream: even if you fall, you don't get hurt), he came to slowly realize that this _was_ Kaiba Mansion after all. But why did it look so different? Did he have it refurbished to such a stupid but classy taste?

Out of habit every time he stroll through the corridors, he called out, "Mokuba?"

He came to a halt outside Mokuba's bedroom. He must have either relocated Kaiba Mansion or had the whole house refurbished because the bedroom doors suddenly looked more expensive. Taking a deep breath, he stepped right through Mokuba's door. Like every corner of the house, save for the hall, even his brother's room was empty. In fact, it wasn't just empty; everything in the room was horribly in place. Mokuba would never leave his bedroom without making it look like some tornado had ravaged it. The maid could clean it up, but the neatness would last less than 5 minutes.

The main thing that was tugging anxiously at him now was a photo of Mokuba on his dresser. Seto went over to it and peered at the small wordings below the photo. Just to be sure, he scanned the newspaper article next to it. His face blanched.

_That explained everything,_ his mind connected the dots too quickly for his own comfort. _Why this room is so orderly. Why the house is so empty. Why I was crying down there._

He felt panic rising within him. Was this a sign of things in reality?

Stubbornly, he shouted at his reflection in the mirror nearby, "Okay, that's it! I'm through with this game! I want to wake up, be wide awake. Now! You hear me? I am getting up. Now!"

He closed his eyes, and with all his might, wished for his wish to come true.

XO XO XO XO

He awoke with a start, but rashly gave a quick glance at the things around him. Clean white walls, a small bathroom and some basket of fake flowers on his right. He swung his legs out of bed, ripping the IV tube from his arm as well. For the first time in his life, he did not feel like snorting or passing some cutting remark at the sight of Joey and Tea sprawled out on the separate couches, fast asleep. There was somebody far more important he had to see.

Apparently his shuffling woke Joey up. The blond groaned as he reluctantly woke up, throwing some random curses at the person responsible for interrupting his slumber. The moment he saw Seto, he leapt up from bed.

"Kaiba, what are you doing up?" he asked, bewildered. "No, man. You gotta get back in bed. And you ripped those IV tubes! Are you out of your mind?"

"Shut up, Wheeler," Seto growled, shoving him aside as he attempted to storm out of the room. "It's not your place to tell me what to do."

"Y'think? Kaiba, geez. You're in a hospital! You're supposed to like be lying there in bed and being sick."

The ruckus woke another member of the gang. "Oh come on, boys," Tea grumbled. "Can't the both of you stop arguing for one sec?"

Seto smirked as he maintained silence for a beat. Then he spoke, "See? One sec over. Now shove off."

"Where are you going?"

"Does it matter to you?" Seto shot Tea a murderous glance. Then something seemed to cross his mind. "Where's my brother?"

Joey and Tea exchanged glances. Seto glowered at them. He repeated in a low, menacing voice, "Where. Is. Mokuba?"

Joey shuffled uneasily. "He went to gi-" Tea elbowed him hard. "We're not supposed to tell you, moneybags." He barely had the time to blink before Seto grabbed him by his collar, his nemesis's icy blue eyes boring holes into him. Joey swatted at the gripping hands. "Hey, easy now. Promise by a friend. We can't break it." Then, "Ow! Geeeeez! You don't have to throw me down!"

By then, the door had slammed shut, leaving Joey and Tea to stare open-mouthed at it in disbelief. Their eyes met for a split second, then in tandem they dashed out of the room, screaming, "Wait up!"

XO XO XO XO

_Mokuba. Please, let that dream be just some random figment of my imagination and not a glimpse into the future._

He wanted to run, but he could only muster enough strength to walk through the hospital corridors with an air of egoism. Even in his less than normal state (not weak, never weak, Seto kept telling himself), he managed to shoot death glares at anyone who dared cross his path. The most severe ones were reserved for the nurses who were scrambling to get him back to his room.

_That mutt said something about Mokuba gi – what? Giving something?_

He huffed as he reluctantly approached the front desk. Raising a hand to signal to the nurse on duty to shut up and listen to him, he spoke coldly, "I don't wish to get back to my room. In fact, I feel fine enough. So I want to be discharged. Now."

Apparently the middle-aged nurse was unfazed by his orders. "I can't and I won't do that, sir. You had a gunshot wound near your abdomen." She pointed to the gauze wrapped around his torso. "And you're supposed to be in bed and not letting your wound break open again."

Seto slammed his fist onto the countertop and seethed, "Do you _know_ who _I_ am?"

"Of course I do, Mr Seto Kaiba," the nurse replied coolly. The way she said his name made it clear she had no respect or fear for him. "Now if you could please kindly get back to your room and stay there. I'll get the doctor to check you. And if the doctor says that you'll be fine, then I'll let you leave." She pressed a button on the intercom. "Gareth, gather a few men and escort Mr Kaiba back to his room."

Seto glared back. "That won't be necessary – " he checked her nametag. "Nurse Suzuki. I am perfectly capable of going back to my own room. There is no need for a team to escort _me_ back. In fact, I think that team should escort _you _out."

There was clatter of footsteps behind him, and without turning around, Seto knew who those dumbwits were.

"Kaiba," Joey wheezed. "Man, for a wounded bas- guy, you sure walk fast."

"Or maybe it's just you trotting at that snail pace as always," Seto replied sourly. He moved as if about to cross his arms, but remembered that he had some wound in his abdomen. In the end, he settled to having his arms by his side. To onlookers, it might appear casual. But to business associates and rivals, really, it appeared lethal.

Suddenly Tea's eyes widened in shock. "K-K-Kaiba…"

"Get on with it already, Gardner!" Seto snapped. "Don't tell me I look good with a gauze wrapped over my body, cos that's bull! Now hurry up! Will somebody tell me where my brother is, or do I have to hunt every single room in this blasted hospital?"

"Big brother?"

Seto whirled around. Standing behind him and looking up at him with scared eyes, was the person he wanted to meet all along. Suddenly oblivious to his surroundings, the last few scenes of his dream played in his mind and Seto was barely aware when the rest of the crowd witnessed him kneeling down with arms outstretched to hug Mokuba.

When his brother hesitated to run forward to return his hug, Seto's brows furrowed in confusion. "I'm not in another stupid dream, am I?"

"S-S-Seto…" Mokuba pointed a shaky finger at his brother.

"What is it, Mokuba? Mokuba, tell me, what is it?"


	8. Fin

**A/N: finally, this fic has come to its end. i feel quite sad again, actually. i really enjoyed writing this fic. anyway, thank you for all the reviews, alerts, faves and continous support from all of you out there. i hope you guys will like the ending!**

**love, fika1603**

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Seto glanced down at the red ribbons streaming across his gauze. Almost trance-like, he placed a finger to the trickling stream. His fingertip was dyed red almost instantly. He looked up to meet his brother's eyes. Mokuba was on the verge of bawling his eyes out. Weakly, Seto extended a hand to place on Mokuba's shoulder.

"Mokuba…" Seto forced his lips to curve up ever so slightly, a false reassurance to his little brother. Despite his current state, he felt nothing. Probably the effect of a strong anesthesia. "Mokuba. Look at me. Don't worry. I'm fine."

The black-haired boy closed his hand over the one on his shoulder. The other hand reached out to stabilize his brother, also by the shoulder. "You should get back, Seto. You haven't recovered fully."

"Mokuba, I'm fine." Seto repeated more stubbornly this time round. "I have something to tell you."

But his brother was more horrified by his brother's state to even listen to what Seto was saying. Instead, he had hollered over to the nurses to quickly get his brother back into his room. The medical team was there almost immediately, with three male nurses hauling Seto to his feet and propping him onto a wheelchair that was briskly wheeled to his room.

Mokuba, Joey, Tea and Yugi – who had arrived just in time to see the scene unfolding at the hospital's front desk – dashed after them.

XO XO XO XO

"Mr Kaiba, please stop struggling," Seto could hear the faint pleading of his doctor. He tried to force his eyes open but they just seemed to get heavier with every second passed. "Stop thrashing about, Mr Kaiba! This is an order!"

Somehow, the exasperated outcry only served to make Seto more indignant. Rather than complying with the doctor, he willed his body to go against the orders. Inwardly, he scoffed. His employee dared to give him orders?

Sighing in frustration, the doctor muttered some words to the nurses aiding him before heading out of the room. Mokuba rushed forward and immediately inquired about his brother. Shaking his head in resignation, the doctor said, "We're trying to seal the wound, but your brother is working against us. It's making it impossible to close the wound again."

"Can't you sedate him or something?" Mokuba almost yelled in equal anxiousness. "Please, doctor. Seto has to be saved!"

"We can seal his damn wound but only if he stops making life difficult for us!" the doctor snapped. Upon seeing Mokuba's shocked expression, he put his face into his hands and said more slowly, "I'm sorry, Mr Kaiba. But your brother is making it hard for everyone here who's trying to save his life."

Mokuba peered into his brother's room. Seto's wound was bleeding freely again, but his brother seemed to be oblivious to the pain. Somehow, Mokuba knew it wasn't because of anesthesia. He had caught sight of the line of determination burned onto his brother's features. Mokuba shook his head in disbelief. Seto was being stubborn for him.

The vice-president of Kaiba Corporation stormed into the room and politely requested the nurse to stand-by outside. He assured them that he would try to talk Seto round into making himself more receptive to their aid. The medical team was nothing more than relieved. Seto Kaiba was unbearable when he opted to become difficult. (which, Joey would have said, almost all the time)

As soon as the last nurse closed the door behind her, Mokuba folded his arms and tried to give Seto his sternest glare possible. "Alright, Seto. This is unlike you to be so childish. Why is that?"

The blue-eyed brunette stared at him back, but unlike the usual, his stare was kinder. Pressing a hand over his wound, Seto said sotto voce, "I told you, Mokuba. I had something to tell you." he inclined his head towards a chair beside the bed. Mokuba sat on it and leaned in close to hear what his brother had to say.

"What is it, Big Brother?"

For once, Mokuba noticed a strange look in his brother's eyes. For the first time in his life, Mokuba saw fear in those eyes that were always so sharp and cold. Although Seto had not started to say anything yet, Mokuba could already sense that whatever was to be delivered had scared his brave big brother.

"When I was unconscious, I- I – I dreamt, Mokuba," Seto was struggling to piece his words together. Again, Mokuba noted that his brother was being unlike himself. "I went to three places. The first one was the hospital, when you were born. The second was Ancient Egypt, when there was this priest-turned-pharaoh who looked like me adopted a small boy who looked like you as a son. The third one…"

There was a long pause before Seto finally choked out the words, "The third one was…in the future. I was living in a lap of luxury, but…but…" The last three words came out as a bare whisper, "you were dead."

Mokuba failed to stifle his gasp. Seto already looked uncomfortable opening up like this to him. Still, Mokuba attempted to play it cool. Like Seto said, it was all a dream. That was just that. A dream.

"Wh-What happened to me, Big Brother?"

At his question, Seto promptly looked away. Mokuba could still see his brother blinking rapidly for a few times before he turned back to him. "There was a newspaper article. I-I-I kept it in your room, beside your photo. The article said that… said that while I was at a corporate function, you were out. And… and you got into an accident. You were ran over by a speeding vehicle."

Suddenly Mokuba saw his big brother's cool composure disintegrating before him, as Seto gave in to sobs. "That vehicle… was my limo."

The tears were flowing as rapidly as the blood from the wound now. Crying, Mokuba reached out to touch his brother's face. "Stop, Seto. You're bleeding a lot. I'll call in the doctor now."

Seto stopped him. "No… can't you see it, Mokuba? All along I thought I was protecting you. But what if I put you in danger?" Mokuba attempted to argue, but Seto cut in. "Mokuba, I know what you've done. I know how terrified you are of needles. I don't want to put you in danger anymore, Mokuba. Do you know horrible I feel everytime something happens to you?"

"Seto –"

"Don't tell me to shut up, Mokuba, because I won't. I can't. I'm sorry, Mokuba. I'm sorry you had to go through all this. I'm sorry you never lived a normal life because of me."

By then, the strong, heartless young CEO known as Seto Kaiba was reduced to a weeping heap of a big brother who felt that he had failed to fulfill his responsibilities. He had promised Mokuba to be his guardian, to be his protector. How many times had he broken that sacred promise? He had sworn that nothing would befall his brother as long as he was alive. How many times had he let his brother be in peril?

All of a sudden, Seto felt something warm wetting his shoulder. He opened his eyes slowly and quickly shut them again. It was like a ravine of tears; Seto's trickled down to Mokuba's hair, and Mokuba's wetted his shoulder.

Outside, Joey was unconsciously blowing his nose onto his T-shirt. Tea was wiping her eyes every few seconds to shriek in disgust at her friend's actions. Yugi was blinking at a typewriter speed. The medical team, meanwhile, took the chance to quietly make their way into the room and fix the abandoned wound.

XO XO XO XO

Seto Kaiba opened his eyes groggily. Unfortunately, a relaxing moment of waking up was thrown out of the window the moment he saw the faces peering down at him. He groaned in disbelief.

"Big Brother!" Mokuba explained, rushing forward to give his brother a quick hug.

"Wheeler, can't I ever not see your stupid face for one moment in this hospital?" Seto fired as a way of saying good morning.

"What?! I've been accompanying Moku-Man here all night and that's your way of saying thanks?" Joey shot back, outraged.

Seto rolled his eyes. "I was right in my judgement about you. Did I ever utter thank you anywhere in my words just now? No."

"Well, at least we know Kaiba's back to his normal self," Tea tried to appease the situation by saying it as cheerfully as possible.

"Yeah, Kaiba," Yugi quipped. "We were hoping that you'd be alright. Your wound opened up real bad yesterday."

Seto snorted as he attempted to sit up. When he finally did, his eyes crossed over to a stack of wrapped gifts on his table. "What's that supposed to be?" He swiveled his head to Mokuba, who was looking down guiltily at the shiny floor. "Explain."

Mokuba shuffled uncomfortably. "Well, they wanted to get you a get-well present or something. I told them that since you didn't exactly celebrated your birthday this year…"

"I thought I did." Seto wondered when did he ever celebrate his birthday. Hell, sometimes his Christmas got cut short too.

His younger brother shook his head. "Nopes. You spent it all day with a board meeting."

"I see." Seto continued to stare at the gifts before finally grumbling, "Fine."

Mokuba's face instantly lit up, and soon, he was piling gift after gift onto Seto's lap to unwrap. The first one was from Yugi – the Summoning Of Ultimate Blue Eyes card. Seto threw a look at his arch-rival, who gave him a shrug. Seto uttered politely, "Thank you, Yugi. New card, I presume?"

Yugi grinned. "There's only 1 such card, Kaiba."

Joey's was next. As much as possible, Seto refused to open it. But for courtesy sake, he did. It was a briefcase. Just as large as his usual one, except that it was in metallic black with a huge yellow smiley face plastered on it.

"A big happy face for the president, " Seto remarked with underlying venom in his voice. He made a mental note to discard it the moment he reached home.

"Y'know Kaiba, that briefcase is cool," Joey interjected. "Cos it opens up with your thumbprint." He demonstrated by placing his thumb over one eye of the smiley face. The latch immediately unlocked. "See? Joey Wheeler's taste in cool gadgets is so the bestest of the best!"

"Yes, Wheeler," Kaiba replied dryly, placing the briefcase far from his sight as possible. "Mokuba showed me at a toy store once."

Tea's was next. It was easy to identify hers; it was the most well-wrapped in black jacquard. Seto tugged at the silver ribbon holding it in place. The black jacquard fell open to reveal a monogrammed laser pointer. S.K. was engraved onto its metal casing.

"Appreciate it, Gardner," he said just as mundanely as before. "Something that I can actually use."

Tea flashed a quick smile in return. It was Mokuba's turn. He quickly shoved a small hastily wrapped parcel into his brother's hands. He was practically bouncing beside Seto, urging him to open it.

With much more conviction and sincerity, Seto carefully undid the wrapping. Something silvery was nestled in the middle. Seto picked it up and brought it close to his face. He immediately recognized the engraved picture on the locket despite it being a gazillion times smaller than the actual one.

"So you can always have two things close to your heart," Mokuba's voice was lowered to a whisper. "Me, and Blue Eyes."

Seto ran his hand through Mokuba's hair affectionately. He glanced back at the engraving. He could make out two small boys riding a large dragon. At the back were the words "Me and Big Brother always."

Deep inside, the old Seto Kaiba smiled. _Me and my brother, always._


End file.
